Overseer
by Steel.Binding
Summary: 30 Days of Night: Something's wrong with the night, and Dane ventures out to find out what. Marlow's back because of a freak incident, and a separation of the vampires is about to occur.


Steel.Binding: Well, I actually started writing this for no particular reason with a previous idea in mind, but I have no idea what it will develop into. Anyway, this is based on the graphic novels and the written novels (though I only read Immortal Remains in that area), and I'll try to make it an easy read for those who haven't read 'em. I'm adding in some non-canons, by the way.

Disclaimer: I obviously do not own 30 Days of Night (I do, however, own my own character creations)

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There was something...wrong. Yes, that was the word for it. The only word for it. There was something wrong with the night, an he felt it in every part of his being. There was an oddness about the air, an awkwardness that he couldn't quite place. A gentle prickling of his skin was tugging at his brain, warning him. But what of? Dane couldn't place it. He just felt unsettled with it all, but still, he owned the night. He owned the night with thousands of others.

The eeriness he felt didn't settle, it made his stomach cringe with uncertainty. Wariness kept him alive. He put his keen senses to use, unlike the arrogance that he fond was possessing more and more of his kind. Vampires of his type were becoming rare; those that killed merely to live, rather than those who lived to kill, were becoming difficult to find. Those that believed humans were not cows to slaughter were either hiding their beliefs or changing them altogether. It was becoming dangerous in his world to express an opinion different from the vast majority.

Dane trudged along the streets, shoving the uneasiness to the back of his mind. He'd think of it all later, but for the moment he had to focus on his hunger. He hadn't fed in a few days, although that was usual for him. Perhaps, secretly (maybe he didn't even know it), the thought of drinking blood still made him shy away. But it was most likely because he didn't like playing God - but that, of course, would be a matter of opinion. Whether a Go did exist or not, regardless, what gave him the right to pick and choose who died and who didn't. It was a debate he'd had with Marlow many a time, and one that often ended up with him being given a severe beating. Sometimes Marlow wouldn't even waste his breath with arguing and would just proceed straight to the beating. Dane had never accepted Marlow's beliefs, the belief that even the lowliest vampire was above any human. In what Marlow would call Dane's ignorance, Dane believed that both vampires and humans had their merits, and that each group had the same sort of structure: some vampires were decent, others were scum. And the same went for humans. After all, the vampire was supposed to have originated as a human. That had to mean something.

Dane had had difficulty accepting what he had become, what Marlow had made him. He'd never felt right taking an innocent. He still remembered the first human to fall victim to his new need. The beautiful blonde woman who had seemed to sense her doom even before she knew he was there. Maybe she felt the air change...maybe she felt it in the back of her mind, knew that her embodiment on the Earth would soon end.

_"It's like she's looking for you..." _Marlow had said. Without even looking at him, Dane had seen the sneer, heard it in his voice. The contempt that had come with those few little words had chilled Dane to his core. How could anyone who had ever been human hate humanity that much? He'd never understood it, and he doubted he ever would, especially after how long it had been since his change.

Dane shook his head, easing the memory of Marlow away, although he knew it would sneak back eventually. It always did. And even though Marlow had been so cruel, such a bastard...Dane missed him terribly. He'd never returned from that little town up in Alaska. He supposed it was like a child and their parents, for no matter what a parent did, the child always seemed to love them no matter what and grew up to continue loving them. Even when they said they hated their parents, Dane believed that they hated them only because they couldn't bear the fact that they really never could hate them.

Suddenly, he looked up, just realizing that he'd been staring at the sidewalk as he made his way through the streets. The sight of a piece of chewed, squished bubblegum made him raise his eyebrows in disgust, and then again in amusement as a hurried citizen picked it up on their shoe. As he scanned the crowd of people, his eyes fell upon a group of vampires - they became easy to spot after some experience - that eyed him as he moved on by. He acknowledged them with a swift and curt nod, not interested in what could always advance to a hunting invitation. Dane took his pick from the criminals and scum that the world would be better off without, anyway, or nabbed some blood from a hospital. After choosing from so many innocents at Marlow's urging, he had decided a while back to change his ways after killing maybe hundreds. He honestly didn't know the number of innocents weighing on his conscience, but he did know that he hadn't really thought any better. He had vowed to adopt his own beliefs, and he did. Dane hoped that that would be enough to redeem him of his sins, although he felt as though he sinned in hideous ways every day.

Carrying on, almost losing himself in his thoughts once more, Dane searched patiently for a potential victim - he always thought of them as victims, really, although Marlow had always thought of them as mere meals. He scoured the vicinity, finding, of course, mostly average humans who showed no active signs of being anything other than law-abiding and fairly decent. Dane had expected as such, for he normally searched night clubs and bars for victims, as they were easiest to spot. If he saw a potential rapist, thief, or even the odd murderer, Dane would take his action. Although, searching for criminals through the television news and newspaper would also prove useful, if he could track the victim well enough the actually meet them. Yes, he often went through far too much trouble just to feed, but it made Dane feel better in the long run. No sense making himself live with himself if he couldn't stand the person he'd become.

Dane looked up at the sky...damn, he'd been lost in his thoughts for quite a long time. The sky was becoming lighter, and he'd have to have time to make it home. He had a stock of blood stored in his apartment for emergencies, but he didn't like to use it if he didn't have to, but if looked like one of those nights. And now he could feel it again, much stronger this time as the sky dimmed and brightened little by little, preparing itself for the stark brightness of the morning sun to greet the world in a few hours. The wrongness of the night, the prickling of the skin. It worried him, but he'd have to do his investigating once he got home and fed himself...if he could dig out those numbers from old friends.


End file.
